Starring: Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Stanley Tucci Directed By: Lasse Hallström Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Miramax Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 16, 2007 Running Time: 115 minutes Theatrical Release Date: April 20, 2007
Product Description: No Description Available. Genre: Feature Film-Drama Rating: R Release Date: 16-OCT-2007 Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com: The Hoax is a happy surprise. Surprise because, for once, having a film's release date bumped back half a year didn't mean it's a dog. Happy because Lasse Hallström's dancing-on-eggshells comedy about a notorious literary scandal of the 1970s is bounteously entertaining, with more solid laughs and certainly slyer wit than, say, the latest Will Ferrell romp.
The subject is the world-shaking con an unsuccessful writer named Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) ran on some supposedly sharp cookies in the highest echelons of Manhattan publishing. Irving persuaded McGraw-Hill and Life magazine that ultra-reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes had selected him to transcribe his memoirs. It's pure balderdash, a desperate improvisation by a glib-talker who's perennially one jump ahead of the repo men. But the epic audacity of Irving's scam, the quicksilver way he weaves imaginary and accidental real-life details into beguiling patterns, and the legendary self-isolation of his supposed subject all conspire to keep the fiction afloat ... for a while.
This story isn't new to cinema, though few reviewers seem aware of that. In 1973 Orson Welles told it as part of F for Fake, a kaleidoscopic meditation on art, forgery, and the slipperiness of media, in which the real-life Irving was a semi-witting participant. But there's no need to beat up on The Hoax for being inferior to that postmodern masterpiece. Hallström and a deft cast do a killer job on the skyscraper corporate world where there are always more people in the room than there are useful purposes for them to serve (see especially Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, and Zjelko Ivanek); Marcia Gay Harden summons up a daft Viking serenity as spouse Edith Irving, a.k.a. "Helga R. Hughes"; and Alfred Molina rates a supporting Oscar nod for his balletic suspension between bemusement and panic attack as Dick Suskind, Irving's researcher accomplice and conscience-in-default. As for the con artist in chief, Richard Gere dials back the narcissism of previous performances to limn a schmuck just suave enough to seduce even himself. --Richard T. Jameson
Right up there with Hitler's Diary as one of the biggest frauds of the 20th century. The biggest would be the one we don't know about. Richard Gere does a pretty good job as Clifford Irving. He's a writer over his head in debt & desperate to write a best-seller. He hatches a scheme to write Howard Hughes biography, as told to him via conversations & phone calls. Why the reclusive billionaire would talk only through him is not exactly clear. Only his lawyer & best friend Richard Sussman played by Al Molina, knows & helps. He totally cons McGraw-Hill into publishing. They are dubious at first. But his research is complete & impeccable. He is so smooth & they are so greedy. They are portrayed as a bunch of stupid empty suits without an original thought. Of course, Irving was confident that Hughes would not appear to contradict him. By this time Hughes was a raging paranoid & not capable of rational thought. But he did have loyal minions. That also is part of this story. He almost succeeds. At the critical moment his best friend & ex-wife lose their nerve & crack. Irving does end up writing a best seller. But not one he thought he'd write.
Con man extraordinaire The Hoax, starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, and Marcia Gay Harden, is an interesting look at hubris and the art of a con.
Clifford Irving (Gere) is a writer. Problem is, he's having a tough time getting his books published. Bills are mounting, Clifford's pride is wounded, and he keeps getting the brush-off from his contact at McGraw-Hill. Desperate for a book idea that will sell, Clifford comes up with what he thinks is a brilliant plan - he'll tell his agent that he's received authorization to write the definitive autobiography of Howard Hughes from the reclusive billionaire himself. Hughes doesn't go out, right? He doesn't talk to anyone. He doesn't make personal phone calls, and a recent legal settlment means the eccentric man won't set foot in a courtroom to prosecute. No one will really know if the autobiography is truly authorized or not.
Clifford sells his idea to McGraw-Hill with little more than a few forged letters. Then, he begins concocting the hoax of a lifetime. He works with his trusted researcher, Dick Suskind (Molina), and his wife Edith (Harden) to produce a reasonable account of Hughes' life. He fakes letters from Hughes, aborted visits to the publishing house, the whole nine yards. When the book is complete, the publisher is thrilled with the result, and even interviewers who have actually spoken to Hughes himself agree that the manuscript is genuine.
Copies of the book are printed and are on the verge of being distributed. But when the billionaire decides to make a rare public statement, Clifford's carefully constructed hoax folds like a house of cards.
Perofrmances in this film were great. All three of the primary characters have wonderful moments. As Clifford takes on Hughes' persona, Gere does some great work as a writer who finds himself in his subject. Molina's tragic realization of a man who discovers he has been unfaithful is touching, and Harden's "chance to be clean" speech has some of the best lines written for a lover's quarrel that I've seen on film.
And the ultimate con? This movie, and the book is it derived from, are based on the true story of Clifford Irving's actual con of McGraw-Hill and the American public. Looks like Irving found a story that would sell after all . . .
What's the REAL story? I'd say only Clifford Irving knows for sure, but as you will be able to see from this film, Irving began to believe his own lies after awhile.
Fed up with the publishing business and fearing his career is over after his successful story of a Picasso forger in "Fake", Clifford Irving (Gere) concocts a grandiose scheme to scam McGraw Hill. He'll write Howard Hughes' biography. The bazillionaire is one of the most famous men in the world, he's a noted recluse, and there's no way Hughes can sue him. If he appears in any US Court, he'll be caught up in another lawsuit that will cost him 137M.
So, Irving his researcher buddy, Richard Suskind (Molina) off his current project. The problem with lying is, when you get a credulous bunch of editors hanging on your every word, you start telling lies. That's when Suskind tells the tale of Howard Hughes giving him an organic prune.
"The Hoax" is based on a true event. Irving actually served 17 months' time in jail for fraud.
The film's interesting and well-acted. What amazes me is how possible the story was with a little research and how well Irving (Gere) seemed to integrate Hughes personna into his own to perpetrate the fraud.
The soundtrack is especially good, featuring songs of the timeframe. Really takes you back to the day.
According to the Clifford Irving website (which I cannot link here due to Amazon restrictions) the hoax book entitled "Howard Hughes: My Story," by Clifford Irving is available in a quality paperback edition by John Blake Publishers.
When you start believing your own lies! Lasse Hallstrom has put together a slick and tension producing romp in "The Hoax", fueled by a great Carter Burwell soundtrack that catches the pulse pounding of the film. Based on the actual events of Clifford Irving's attempt at fooling the publishing world into thinking that HE has the exclusive interview with the world's most eccentric recluse, billionaire Howard Hughes, Hallstrom spirals Richard Gere as Irving and an extremely comic and refreshingly fattened Alfred Molina as co-auther Dick Susskind, into a second to second, make-it-up-as-you-go, belly-tightener. Watching Gere actually "becoming" Hughes and then believing his own lies is classic fodder for any psychiatrist. The film never has a moment of down time, and leaves you pretty exhausted by the end. The editing keeps the pace of the screenplay, and is smart and tight in telling this story. Hallstrom ties in the world events (Nixon, Viet Nam, TWA scandal etc which sometimes confuses the main objective). "The Hoax" is a great look at con men at their best when they actually start to believe their own con! Now that's commitment AND delusional grandeur!
for $6 (including postage), it's okay ... ... but not for the price of a movie ticket ($12 in Manhattan!), nor the full price sought for the DVD.
Compared to other excellent "little film" dramas (ZODIAC, THE LOOKOUT, BREAKING AND ENTERING, RENDITION, SHATTERED GLASS, VALLEY OF ELAH) and just about any exposee series on cable, HOAX is rightly infatuated with its subject matter but fails to invest the viewing experience with a necessary energetic sharpness.
According to the commentaries, perhaps they had too good a time on the set making the movie. Maybe a clue comes from the fact that its director also directed the ABBA movie!
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